Superpanel just closed a $5.3 million seed round to tackle one of law firms' biggest bottlenecks - client intake. The AI-powered platform automates the tedious process of evaluating and onboarding new clients, promising to cut through the maze of forms and dropped leads that plague both consumers seeking legal help and the firms trying to serve them.
For Julien Emery, automating legal intake isn't just business - it's deeply personal. The Superpanel CEO remembers his mother's car accident and how the legal settlement kept his family afloat for years. But getting that help in Canada was expensive and frustratingly complex.
"For consumers, it's a maze of forms, phone calls, and dropped leads that cause most people to give up before getting help," Emery told TechCrunch. "For firms, it's a costly, error-prone bottleneck."
That frustration led to Tuesday's announcement of a $5.3 million seed round co-led by Outlander VC and Field Ventures. The funding validates a growing belief that AI can finally crack one of law's most stubborn operational challenges.
Superpanel's platform acts as what Emery calls a "digital teammate" for plaintiff law firms, handling roughly half the work involved in client intake. The system engages potential clients across multiple channels - phone, text, email, and online forums - guiding them through their story while collecting documents and sorting cases by type, jurisdiction, and documentation needs.
The timing feels right for this kind of legal automation. Before recent AI breakthroughs, the intake process was considered too complex and nuanced for software to handle reliably. But Emery, who previously worked at social media management giant Hootsuite and founded health insurance platform Allay (which sold to Novo Benefits), saw an opportunity when he teamed up with AI expert Dingyu Zhang to launch Superpanel in 2024.
"When there's risk of ambiguity, the system escalates to a human team member," Emery explained. "The result is a unified, multi-channel workflow that delivers measurable results and gives firms a system they can trust like a real employee."
The legal tech space is heating up as AI transforms how firms operate. Superpanel faces competition from established players like Clio Grow, LegalClerk.ai, MyCase, and Whippy.ai. But Emery believes his startup's multi-channel approach and focus on plaintiff firms gives it an edge.
The funding round included several strategic investors beyond the co-leads. LOI Venture, co-founded by Hootsuite's founder, joined alongside Zenda Capital, 8-Bit Capital, and Behind Genius Ventures. Emery says he leveraged relationships from his previous startup to access this investor network, with early backers making key introductions.
"We'll use the funding to accelerate hiring and expand Superpanel's capabilities for plaintiff law firms," he said. The company plans to deepen its AI capabilities while building out its team to handle growing demand.
The legal industry's digital transformation has accelerated dramatically as firms realize they can't compete without better technology. Client expectations have shifted too - people now expect instant, self-serve solutions shaped by AI tools they use daily.
"Consumers now expect answers and solutions to be instant and self-serve, shaped by AI tools and the online experiences they use every day," Emery noted. "Superpanel guides them continuously across that journey."
For law firms still relying on manual intake processes, the economics are compelling. Superpanel's automation could significantly reduce the cost per client while improving conversion rates by eliminating the friction that causes potential clients to abandon their legal inquiries.
Superpanel's seed funding reflects growing investor confidence that AI can finally solve law firms' operational pain points. With legal services increasingly viewed as a consumer product rather than an elite service, firms that can't streamline their intake processes risk getting left behind. The real test will be whether Superpanel can deliver on its promise to make legal help more accessible while helping firms scale more efficiently - a win-win that could reshape how people connect with legal representation.
